Neighborhood News – Mid-August

Be Sure to Lock Up

There have been a few cars rifled through in the neighborhood, and a couple of other crimes were reported to and posted by the police.

Reports via Neighbourhood Watch have been: theft-other/trailer under $5000 on Foxchapel, theft from car under $5000 in the 200 block of Wychwood Park and a similar theft on Rollingwood Circle. All these were at night and reported earlier in August.

Also, a resident has found two garage door openers close to the old Sherwood Park School grounds. E-mail clark.hdtlc@gmail.com for verification and retrieval.

Councillor Squire is planning a ward meeting on community safety with the London Police on September 12th. Stay tuned for details.
New Neighbors?

If you are new to the neighborhood since May, or if you have noticed new neighbours since then, please send Sandy Levin the address so that the Ratepayers can deliver a welcome package of materials.

Medway Valley Heritage Forest ESA

This is an update on upcoming trail repair work in Medway VHF ESA. The City received a request from a local resident to undertake some trail maintenance and improve wheelchair accessibility to the Medway ESA.

The area of concern is a ~75 meter section of existing, inclined, recycled-asphalt, granular trail near Doncaster Gate (see below). The City’s contractors will be repairing that section of trail. This work could begin as early as September 2018, depending on schedules and weather.
This is not a new trail, and not a change in surface type or width – it is a repair of an existing trail surface to improve accessibility at the request of a local resident.

Repairs to widen the openings in vehicle barriers for easier wheelchair access at entries to the Medway near Gainsborough / Whiteacres and Doncaster are now complete.
Sherwood Forest School Site Development

The project is tentatively scheduled to go to a meeting of the City’s Planning and Environment Committee for site plan approval on September 10th. When we get confirmation, we will let you know the time for the meeting at City Hall.
All Candidates Meeting for Municipal Election

The Ratepayers will be hosting an all candidates meeting for the ward race and, for the first time, the Mayor’s race. It will take place at Brescia in the St. James Building Auditorium on September 26th. The St. James Building is the one next to Brescia’s library.

– The Ward 6 candidates will be there to take questions at 6:30 pm. As there are only two candidates, there will be an opportunity for many questions from the floor.

– The session with candidates for Mayor will start at 7:30 pm. As there are 14 candidates, we are planning to have three specific questions we will ask the candidates to answer. Please let Sandy Levin know the topic/question(s) you would like to have asked. Sandy will provide this to the Executive, which will come up with three questions.

There are also opportunities to learn more about the ranked ballot. On Tuesday, August 21, 7 pm at the Sherwood Forest Branch Library, come and experience Ranked Choice Voting in a friendly, fun atmosphere as presented by City election staff. You’ll see what the new ballot looks like, rank your choice in a demonstration election, and then watch as we count the ballots and determine a winner. Everyone welcome!

There is also another opportunity not shown on the City web site at the London Jewish Community Centre, 536 Huron Street, at 10 am on Thursday, September 13.

City Survey – Changing City Hall Meeting Times

There is currently discussion at City Hall regarding changing the meeting times of for City Council and Standing Committees. This change would impact the meeting times of City Council and the City’s five Standing Committees. A proposal is for City Council and Standing Committee meetings to be moved from their current 4:00 p.m. start time, and instead be held in the daytime. Obviously this is very important to us as a neighbourhood association. Public Participation Meetings, a common component of Planning and Environment Committee Meetings, are proposed to be held at 6:30 p.m. A concern is that delaying the start time to 6:30 could result in meetings that go late into the evening.